Brush Strokes

Updated
October 21, 2012 14:11:00

In Queensland's south-west is Laura Douglas, a cattle owner and canvas painter. Horses are Laura's specialty. While she's content with having her work showcased in the paddock it's managed to find its way to Melbourne during the Spring Racing Carnival.

LAURA DOUGLAS, ARTIST: I had always been creative and was a graphic designer and wanted to sort of make things and do art. And I used to sort of do a bit of oxying and welding.

But then when I was pregnant with my daughter and my son was I guess two and I wanted to do stuff, I wanted to be creative and I realised I couldn't oxy with the fumes and all the rest of it, so I thought, "Oh, OK, I'll give this painting a go." And I was sort of standing there drawing and I was going, "Oh, I can draw! I can draw! Hey, I can draw!" I was so excited.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Her speciality is capturing horses on canvas. That too is something she fell into by accident.

LAURA DOUGLAS: Turly, she's just the most beautiful, beautiful little mare that we got when she was quite young. And I had a canvas out on the dirt in front of home and I was painting those hills, wanted to paint those hills over there which are my favourite hills to paint.

It's just a beautiful hill line and I wanted to paint those and she was standing in the way. I was kind of moving and she sort of wanted to stand right in front of me and block the view, so I'd move, she'd move, so, I just kind of picked up and I just went, "Oh, alright, I'll take a hint; I'll paint you." So that's Turly Girl, it was my first ever horse painting, and I think she'll pretty much always stay on the wall at home.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Home is her cattle property Mount Lonsdale at Mungallala in Queensland's south-west, which she shares with her husband Rowan and children Luka and Finn.

LAURA DOUGLAS: I always paint better when I'm riding. So, it's good now the kids are learning to ride a bit more and we've got horses organised for them, it's nice.

We had a little pony called Dandy when I was about - I think I was about four and it was this little pony and we were maybe going to be riding it in the future and my brother - Mum, I think was inside and she heard this, "Hemry, Hemry! Hold him still, Hemry." And I was out on a rickety old chair getting on Dandy, who apparently was unbroken, which we found out years later. So - and Hemry, my lovely older brother, led me round on Dandy and we just always - horses were always - I always loved them.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Laura Douglas has only been painting for seven years, yet acclaim has come quickly for the 32-year-old. Not that she seeks fame or fortune through her art.

LAURA DOUGLAS: The person who says how viable this is, not mentioning any names, Rowan, um, (laughs) - no, I guess, I guess - no, I'd feel, I'd just keep having - I'd just have exhibitions out in the paddock.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Her latest exhibition is a far cry from the paddock.

From Mount Lonsdale to Lonsdale Street, her paintings have made a 1,700 kilometre journey to the spiritual home of horse racing, Melbourne.

LAURA DOUGLAS: Whenever I have an exhibition up, I just like to - you see them, you do you them in the paddock and then you varnish them and you transport them and you do all of that and I just - I love to have them up on the wall and it's kind of like a family reunion when you've got all your canvases around you.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Laura Douglas has been commissioned to show her paintings in conjunction with the Spring Racing Carnival.

It's also a rare chance for her to paint her beloved horses in a more lively setting, the Flemington Racetrack.

LAURA DOUGLAS: Oh, they're so powerful and free and I just, um, yeah, I have a definite connection with them.

KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: That connection combined with her practice of Eastern philosophy comes through in her artwork.

LAURA DOUGLAS: People used to say to me, "Oh, you're so - your art's so Chinese inspired." And I'd go, "No, it's not." And then - and now I kind of go, "Alright, good point. Yeah, it is." I can speak just a tiny bit of - a little bit of Mandarin, but, yeah "Ma" was the first - "horse" was the first word I wanted to learn.

I guess for me it's really important for me to be in a happy state, you know, to give people a good feeling. There's a lot of not very nice stuff happening in the world and I guess I feel I'm so happy when I paint and I guess I feel if you can bring that goodness out in someone else when they look at one of your works and when they're surrounded by them, then I feel a responsibility to do that and it's just kind of - I don't really want to paint if that's not going to happen.